Melody of the Distilled Rose
by Emuri
Summary: Orihime finds herself captivated by the one boy who walks around school ignoring the world around him. No one can slip through his barriers ... except her. Ichihime AU.
1. Captus

Hey guys [: . All right … so … this would be my first Ichihime ongoing story. I've never done this so don't to be too impatient with me ^^. I'm not totally and completely satisfied with this chapter, but it's not too horrible.

I'd like to thank the ever so lovely and wonderful **copper** for beta-ing this! I love her.

I just want to say before you start reading this that this story is AU. You will probably figure that from this first chapter. This story is actually based off of a little segment of my life. I thought it would be interesting to write about myself, but be a different person. This little fragment of my life served as an inspiration for this fic [: . Obviously everything is not going to be the same, but most of it is. I am going to try to keep the characters as "In Character" as possible because I myself, do not like OOC fics.

**Please tell me now** if it is worth continuing this because I will not continue if people do not like this. I already have another AU Ichihime fic that I am currently writing and I'm excited for it actually ^^. I wouldn't mind updating two stories at a time, especially since summer's peaking its eyes around the corner.

Anyway, without further ado, I give you _Melody of the Distilled Rose_.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Bleach.

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**----**

**Melody of the Distilled Rose**

_Captus_

_----_

Beep … Beep … Beep …

The repetitive sound continued as it gradually made Orihime awake. Sitting up in her bed, she rubbed her eyes, attempting to get rid of some of the sleepiness. Today was a brand new day of the week and she was planning on it to always be a good one. She sluggishly threw the blankets off her legs and crawled off her bed.

She made her way to the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face. She grabbed a towel and patted her face dry and her eyes met with exact replicas of her own. Staring into the mirror, she analyzed herself. She had little more bags than she usually did due to the lack of sleep she had been getting. Getting used to high school was slightly harder than she thought, but she still managed to get amazing grades and she had no problem working for it. She had just started high school a few months ago and she had never experienced such new things before. She had made new friends and experienced more liberty, but her mind started to wander off when she remembered that orange haired boy.

She had seen the orange haired boy all the time in school. They had no classes together, which made sense, since he was a junior. She had first noticed him because of his brightly colored mane. Every new student would quietly laugh at his hair while passing by. He never seemed to mind. It did not seem like he cared to deal with people who made fun of him. They eventually stopped though, due to the fact that they were scared of him. She never understood why people would make fun of him just because he was born with such a unique color of hair. She thought it was an amazing thing.

Most of all, she noticed that he never smiled. He always wore a scowl on his face. Because of this, everyone feared him. She assumed he always wore a scowl because he was trying to put on a tough image. For some odd reason, Orihime could see right through it. She could see the kindness behind his eyes. She had a feeling he was a very sweet person, but she knew no one would ever come to acknowledge this because they were afraid of him. Orihime was not. Besides, he looked adorably funny whenever his brows were deeply furrowed.

She felt there was something alluring about him. She saw something in him no one else saw. She felt a little amount of pity for him since so many people were scared of him. She wondered how it felt to be in his position. She felt that people did not try to look beyond the surface. She had the natural gift of powerfully doing that. She did not know him, but she knew so much about him due to the fact that the students inhabiting Karakura High couldn't stop babbling about him. Orihime blushed at the fact that she was thinking of the orange haired junior. She had to admit to herself that she did have a little crush on him. If she ever told any of her friends that, they would be fearful of HER, but it was nothing more than a crush since she was barely acquainted with him.

----

After slipping on her uniform and fixing up her hair, she excitedly ran to the kitchen to start making her lunch. The jubilant girl loved preparing lunch in the morning. It gave her an opportunity to create new dishes and experiment more things with wasabi and bean paste, which were her two favorite ingredients. While she loved the lunches she made, most people would give her the oddest looks and start to gradually turn green when she would merrily babble on about her lunch every morning. _I wonder why they do that ... _she shrugged. _There isn't anything wrong with my cooking; is there?,_ she asked to herself. _Oh well!_, she smiled happily.

Today she decided to make chili crab and sweet red bean paste with corn, leeks, and onions. She could not wait to eat it. This was probably the best thing she had made all week, in her opinion.

The auburn haired girl packed her "concoction", grabbed her books, and headed out the door.

----

Orihime walked through the gates of Karakura High and later entered the double doors welcoming all its teenage inhabitants. A myriad of students crowded the hallways as they tried to get to their first classes. Teens were pushing and shoving everywhere without even realizing their actions or apologizing. Orihime was shoved here and there a few times, but she still kept her signature smile glued to her face. She was probably the only one who had the longest way to go. Her classroom was on the opposite side of the building and she was about three quarters of the way there. All she had to do was turn to the left and go up the staircase …

Before she could even continue to unconsciously think of the directions to her homeroom class, a bright speck of orange appeared at the end of the hallway, walking towards her. She quickly stared at her shoes as she continued walking, due to the amount of introversion she was currently feeling. Realizing that this might make her look as if she was scared of him, which she definitely did not want him to think, she decided to snap her head back up and keep looking forward, but of course by the time she had performed this action, her eyes had locked with his light brown ones.

He had a stoic expression etched on his face, although he did have a lost glint in his eyes. He did not look threatening, like most people would have said, but Orihime thought she could have detected a sort of calmness emanating from him.

For Orihime, her world ended up freezing in time, or rather slowing down drastically. All the hustle and bustle and the large amount of teenage students had slowly began to fade and disappear. All she saw was him. It was the most peculiar, yet the best feeling she had felt yet. It was as if herself and this tall boy in front of her were the only ones in the over populated hallway. Time had completely decelerated as they both continued their stroll down the hallway in slow motion, never leaving each other's eyes.

Their eyes' strong hold on the others was broken when their backs were eventually facing each other. The bright girl's heart was accelerating at a great pace, she noticed, putting her hand over her busy heart, in an attempt to calm it down, which would most likely not work.

She wondered what just happened. It was so strange. She couldn't tear her eyes from him because she felt so allured. She had never experienced something like that before. The new sensation coursing through her veins did not help her already anxious attitude.

----

Walking into her homeroom, Orihime exhaled a breath she had not had any knowledge she was holding. She was pleased to finally get away from the hallway and just forget about what happened. Although something like this would not seem like a huge deal for anyone else, it felt so for the auburn haired high school student. Relief spread through her curvy body as she strolled through the student filled room, making her way towards her friends.

"Hey, Orihime," Tatsuki happily greeted as she let her arm lay across Orihime's shoulders.

"Good morning, Tatsuki-chan!" she exclaimed. "Oh! Look at what I made for lunch today!"

Orihime pulled out her meal failing to notice the fact that all her friends' faces had started to turn green. "I made chili crab and sweet red bean paste with corn, leeks, and onions. Doesn't that sound scrumptious?" she asked.

They each nervously nodded their heads, not wanting to upset the thrilled girl.

Tatsuki quickly snatched her happy friend's lunch and hid it behind her back. Orihime gave her a questioning look, "What's wrong Tatsuki-chan?"

"You're not eating this. I'm scared you are going to kill yourself one day. I am going to buy you lunch today, all right?"

"Eh? But this is the best lunch I've made all week!" she declared sadly, her bottom lip slowly jutting out to form a pout.

Tatsuki did not bother being surprised by the statement. "I'll buy lunch for you. The lunches here are really good. Don't worry about it."

"Ok," Orihime pouted, finally deciding to give in. She didn't want this to become a big deal because it wasn't. She trusted Tatsuki and even though her lunch wouldn't really "kill" her, she knew her best friend was only doing what she felt was best for her.

"Get to your seats!" Ochi-sensei bellowed, as she entered the room.

The students immediately shut their moving mouths and shuffled around the classroom to take their designated seats.

----

Numbers danced across the page, floating everywhere. Her pencil dragged across the piece of paper easily and she breezed through the math problems the teacher had assigned. She solved the last problem and gently placed the pencil on her desk, huffing in triumph at the fact that she had tackled down the difficult assignment.

She had been the first to finish out of the entire class. Everyone was jealous of how smart she was. She was third of the entire class. They wanted school to be as easy for them as it was for her. Girls were jealous of her looks. She had beautiful long, flowing hair, her breasts were the size that every girl wanted, and every single guy longed to be with her. They were envious, but whether they liked it or not, they could never hate the auburn haired beauty. She was a sensitive and optimistic girl and always entered the room smiling one of her brightest smiles that she only saved for everyone, but herself.

People thought she had a wonderful and cheery life due to the fact that she was never pessimistic and was never caught in a gloomy mood, but little did they know that she was lonely in her small apartment always sitting in front of her brother's shrine with no one to be by her side. Even though she didn't have the best life in the world, she promised herself to always keep a smile on her face for her friends. She did not like the idea of her friends worrying about her. She did not want to be a burden.

Since she had already finished her math assignment, she unconsciously turned towards the classroom window and fell into her daily open eyed slumber. She was a big time day dreamer and she felt that daydreaming served as a comfort for her to a certain degree.

The beautiful teenager was envisaging aliens attacking Karakura High and everyone running for their lives to find shelter. The aliens were after her when she realized she was the only one left. One of the aliens pointed its bony finger directly at her and was ready to give a blow when …

RING! … RING! … RING! …

Her daydream was abruptly interrupted by the school bell. It signaled that lunch was about to start. Her bottom lip stuck out forming a pout. She wanted to see what the alien was going to do to her. It seemed that it was starting to form some sort of light around its aimed finger. _Aww, I really wanted to know what was going to happen, _she thought. _Well, at least it's lunchtime!, _she smiled. She loved lunchtime. It was the only time of the school day when you had a break from all your work and could just sit back, relax, and eat. Eating is a girl's favorite thing to do, especially for Orihime. She was so eager to have the amazing lunch she had made that morning. Today she would be eating crab meat with red bean paste and corn and leeks. _Yum!!_, she thought delightedly.

The auburn haired girl slowly rose from the seat at her desk and started walking to the back of the room where a few of her friends were. As she sauntered towards them, she noticed they were all prepared to eat with their lunches and she then realized she did not have her own.

She quickly skipped back to her desk to retrieve her very well anticipated lunch, but her expectations were immediately shattered when she noticed it was not there. She hurriedly started retracing her steps, thinking of where it could possibly be. The pretty teen began looking around the classroom and even asked a few of her friends, but their only responses were shaking their heads and saying "no", to her dismay. Again her lips started forming into a small pout at the thought of not being able to eat her homemade lunch.

After a few moments of contemplation, she randomly remembered something important. _Wait! Tatsuki has my lunch!, _she recalled gaily, as this morning's events established themselves in her large head. Now she wouldn't have to worry about Tatsuki buying lunch for her and she could enjoy the one she had made that morning. Now all she had to do was find her sassy black haired best friend, persuade the tomboy to allow her to eat the lunch she made, and retrieve her meal.

Orihime left the area by her desk and started moving her way towards the classroom door to exit the room full of noisy teenagers. For some reason, she was truly relieved to leave the space occupied with too much noise.

The auburn haired beauty decided to begin strolling down the hallway while standing on her tiptoes to look over the crowd of teenage students leisurely walking to the cafeteria. Walking on her tiptoes probably wouldn't be such a good idea due to the fact that she was such a klutz. Her large gray eyes scanned the area overhead, looking in one direction and in another very quickly.

After searching for a decent five minutes, there was still no sign of Tatsuki. Orihime huffed. She decided to keep on searching for the friend that had possession of her lunch, but she was not as determined anymore.

She slowed her pace down which was due to her utter disappointment. She would never find Tatsuki or be able to eat the lunch she was so excited to consume.

Orihime's trail of thought was quickly interrupted when she felt someone behind her. On the outside she was perfectly calm. Well, except for the fact that she was starting to randomly pick up her swiftness. In the inside, she was starting to get slightly nervous. _It's him_, she thought. She turned her head slightly to the left in a very sly manner, to make sure it was him. Sure enough, it was. His bright orange hair gave it away, sticking out like a sore thumb.

She twisted her head back around and kept walking forward. Although the bright haired teen behind her was barely paying attention to the slightly flustered auburn haired girl in front of him, she still felt very self conscious. She became very alert and felt as if she could track his movements from the corners of her eyes.

She then noticed Tatsuki walking in the direction towards her. All thoughts about the scowling teenager behind her were long forgotten and she stopped dead in her tracks at the sight of her sassy friend. "Tats—," Orihime was about to finish calling her name, but of course, due to her forgetfulness, the next thing she knew, she felt something hard slam right into her small back.

Kurosaki Ichigo just walked right into her with almost full force, which would've caused the girl to topple over, but thankfully that did not happen, hadn't he stopped himself.

_What the hell is wrong with this girl? _Ichigo growled in his head. _She stopped right in the middle of the hallway at such a random time and I end up running right into her. _Ichigo's scowl grew even deeper at the thought.

Orihime quickly spun around to face the intensely scowling teen and apologize. As soon as she turned around, Ichigo's scowl gradually started melting off his face and his eyes grew ever so slightly wider. He realized this was the girl he was so calmly entranced by this morning on his way to class. After their little staring contest, he had totally forgotten about her and she didn't even cross his mind for the rest of the morning, but now that she was standing right in front of him, and so close as well, he couldn't help, but to be so stunned by her beauty. She had gorgeous long auburn hair, big gray eyes, an innocent face, and a beautiful body. _There is no way she is a freshmen …_, he thought to himself. In his opinion, the true beauty laid behind her eyes. They captured his so easily this morning and even more now.

Orihime probably would have gotten lost in his eyes as well, but was too embarrassed when she noticed his intense gaze and blushed while looking down at her feet. "I-I'm really sorry. I wasn't paying attention," she timidly apologized, a light shade of pink slithering across her cheeks.

Her words snapped him out of his daze. He cleared his throat before he said anything for fear that it would crack. "It's all right don't worry about it," he said with a stern, but soft voice. "I wasn't paying attention either," he fibbed.

This caused her to look up and meet his eyes once again. She nervously laughed as she rubbed the back of her neck tensely. "Ok, well, I'm going to go get my lunch now," she said as she motioned with her finger towards Tatsuki.

Ichigo followed her finger to catch Tatsuki's eyes. She wasn't glaring at him, but she wasn't giving him sweet looks either. "All right, see you around," he smiled and walked off.

When he finally exited the doors at the far end of the hallway, he huffed out a breath. He had never been so captured by someone before. The feeling had felt so odd, but invigorating as well. He decided to shake off the feeling because he felt like jiggling jello at the moment. Although, he couldn't help, but feel that this wouldn't be the last of the beautiful girl he just shared that moment with.

----

Orihime stared down the hallway at his retreating form completely forgetting about the lunch she had so longingly wanted just a few minutes ago. Tatsuki shook her by the shoulder to snap the daydreamer out of her gaze. "Orihime!" she called.

"Eh?"

"Snap out of it," the sassy girl demanded. "That was an interesting sight to see. He looked so pissed when he ran into you, but then he had this weird expression on his face when you turned around. It was so bizarre seeing him like that. He's always been known as the junior who always looks pissed. It was slightly creepy to see him so calm …," she explained scratching her head.

Orihime couldn't believe the words uttered from Tatsuki's mouth. "R-really?" she asked.

"Yeah … well, whatever. I'm hungry; let's go. I guess I'll let you have your lunch because I just realized I have no money," she said hesitantly.

"Don't worry about it, Tatsuki!" Orihime beamed, finally leaving her dazed state. She obviously had no problem with receiving the opportunity to eat her homemade lunch once again.

They started making their way toward the cafeteria as Orihime internally calmed herself to get rid of the rapidly fluttering butterflies in her stomach. She couldn't help, but feel that this wouldn't be the last of scowling boy she just shared that moment with.

----

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Yeah, so I hope you guys enjoyed that [: … I know it's not much, but this is only the first chapter. Tell me if you want more … if you don't tell me, I won't give you any.

~Yono~


	2. Infractus

Yeah, well, I finally completed the second chapter, which is a major relief. I kept on getting distracted and just never continued it, but I stayed up until 5:30 in the morning just to finish it.

I want to thank all of those who reviewed, favorited, and alerted my story. You all make me feel fuzzy ^^. Nineteen reviews is decent for one chapter, correct? [:

I would like to thank my lovely **copper** for beta-ing this and convincing me into posting the actual chapter itself. I honestly did not feel like posting it since I don't like it. I love her. xD

Ok, so I had two reviewers point out the fact that Ichigo is younger than Orihime. **HE IS NOT. HE IS TWO YEARS OLDER THAN HER.** He is a junior; she is a freshman.

_Freshman (First Year)_

_Sophomore (Second Year)_

_Junior (Third Year)_

_Senior (Fourth Year)_

That's how it is for this fic ^^.

So, the events that occur in this chapter actually happened to me … well, except for the very last part. ;D

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Bleach.

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_----_

_**Melody of the Distilled Rose**_

Infractus

----

Orihime sauntered through the busily teeming hallway on her way to the first class she was required to attend to.

The preceding week when she had had the intuition that the modest, yet drastic encounter she had with the carrot top wouldn't be the last of him, was wholly and utterly accurate. She did not have another encounter per se, but they definitely stumbled upon each other … in an embarrassing way. Although the auburn haired freshman would rather not have thought about it, her brain could not resist but present the sequence of images of the ever so diminutive experience, in her creative head.

Orihime was animatedly chatting with her two friends, Aiko and Yumi, about the little blue men who had tripped her on her expedition to the educational edifice which she attended daily.

_Aiko and Yumi had managed to become close friends with Orihime in a matter of months and were by the jubilant girl and her sassy best friend's side a majority of the time. They eventually grew accustomed to the bright girl's antics rather quickly, although they were both tentative to acquaint themselves with her during the commencement of the school year._

"_Where's Tatsuki?" Aiko asked, a questioning expression etched on her visage, interrupting Orihime's long daily morning ramble._

_The rapidly babbling teenager turned towards her dark brown haired friend with fascinated eyes. "Eh?"_

_She scanned the classroom with her large grey orbs slowly, in an attempt to spot her best friend. Her usually euphoric expression deflated as she came to realize her tomboyish friend was no longer by her side or even among the boisterous mass of chatting youth in the space._

_Deciding to go search for her, she exited the racket infested room into an even further clustered hall. She sighed. `There are way too many kids in this school. It's going to be impossible to find Tatsuki-chan. And why do I always find myself looking for her anyway?' She mused._

_She circled the halls for about ten minutes, but finding her feisty friend to no avail._

_She rounded the corner astounded to find Tatsuki speaking with Yasutora Sado. Yasutora Sado was a massively built seventeen year old junior who also attended Karakura High. He lived in Mexico while he was still a young child and then later moved to Karakura town. Numerous amounts of students were terrified of him just like they were Ichigo, but they were more fearful of the fact that his intricate muscles would bulge while he minimally inscribed terms along a piece of paper._

_Tatsuki was rambling on about the next martial arts competition she would be participating in, while he quietly listened to her every word and inserted a few words of insight here and there._

_Orihime was shocked to know Tatsuki was acquainted with Yasutora Sado, chiefly since he was one of Ichigo's best friends._

_Now that she knew Tatsuki was friends with one of her crush's best friends, maybe she could start speaking to him that way. The auburn haired girl flushed slightly at the fact that she had started considering ways she could start talking to the tangerine._

_She wanted to discover new things about the boy who so effortlessly made time delay around her and made her heart flutter like the wings of a humming bird when he merely was in close proximity of her. Due to her ever so timid persona, she wasn't confident anything like that would ever occur, though._

_Shaking her head vigorously, as if to rid her of her silly thoughts, she decided to walk up to Tatsuki and her colossal Mexican friend._

"_I am pumped for this --,"Tatsuki cut herself off when she noticed Orihime nervously walking towards her and Sado. "Hey, Hime!" she greeted, waving a hand, beckoning for her to come over._

_As the bright girl continued sauntering towards the pair, she felt uncomfortable under Sado's quiet, yet stern gaze. Tatsuki light heartedly introduced the two to each other and soon enough Orihime's awkwardness resided and was replaced with her usually luminous and brilliant demeanor. "Hello, Yasutora-kun!"_

_The corners of his mouth slightly turned upward as the bouncing girl in front of him continued beaming her large smile. "Hello, Inoue-chan. You can call me Sado, by the way."_

"_All right, Sado-kun," she said, her grin growing slightly wider. But her smile quickly faded._

_She felt that same presence which overwhelmed her entire being, as it snuck its path around her, hugging her whole body. She slightly froze, but continued attempting to act as normal as she possibly could as she proceeded with talking to the gentle giant in front of her._

_Thankfully, her back was to the wall meaning she had no view of the orange haired junior. Unbeknownst to her, she was merely a few inches from the wall and was blocking the path Ichigo had longed to take._

_Ichigo had just walked out of his classroom to simply retrieve an item from his locker, but halted outside the classroom door when he noticed the young woman he sometimes could not get off his mind, chatting with one of his best friends. He felt his resolve to reach his locker diminish as he gazed at her and realized she was blocking the trail to his locker._

_The tangerine grunted under his breath. His locker was on the other side of Sado, but in order to arrive at his destination, he had to squeeze through the tiny space between the wall and the girl or walk around the entire building just to arrive a few yards from where he was standing. Due to his impatience, there was absolutely no way he was going to make a large trip around the edifice. Pinching through the petite space was looking to be his only option._

_He was only about one yard away from the klutzy girl. All he had to do was take a few steps forward, maneuver his body so that he could fit through the space between the wall and her, and walk to his locker from there. His ultimate goal, besides appearing at his locker, was to remain unnoticed by the beaming girl. He would do anything for her not to become aware of him, even though he was unaware of the fact that she already was._

_He was incredibly surprised at how much this simple girl had such an effect on him. No one was capable of allowing him to feel embarrassed, not even his fanatical and idiotic father. Such a basic and beautiful teenage girl made his heart beat wildly in his chest whenever she was in pure sight and made him aware of all his surroundings. He always felt self-conscious whenever she was around. Out of everyone in the world, she had to be the one who was capable of taking hold of his emotions and slurring them into a heap on the ground._

_Fascination would dominate his body at any time he reflected on the gorgeous freshman. He speculated as to how this young lady could do these things to him. If he strolled around the halls with a blush stained face continually, the reputation he labored so hard for, would unearth its way down the rusty pipes in a sink. But he would not allow this … this … UNDERCLASSMAN … to toy with his sentiments any longer. That was something he was determined about. `This is just a phase and will soon pass', he thought to himself. `Nothing more, nothing less.'_

_He then decided to take the initiative and land at his locker without having to take the long way. He hesitated for half a second, but trudged forward. He wasn't going to allow a silly girl to prevent him from performing such a dispensable task. She was just like any other girl in the school._

_Orihime stiffened. Through her peripheral vision, she noticed Kurosaki Ichigo walking her way. Her blood pumping organ worked harder at his increasing proximity. She strained a smile as she continued paying attention to Tatsuki, but fortunately, her brazen friend was too caught up in her discussion to observe her injured grin. She was oblivious to the fact that her derriere was mere inches away from the wall._

_Ichigo managed to fit through the miniature space successfully. His body had not made contact with her behind thankfully. When he was just about to make it out of the small gap, he felt something soft run underneath his fingertips. He froze. `Oh shit,' he thought. `Don't tell me …' All his thoughts were confirmed when he heard a small gasp escape the mouth of the auburn haired girl behind him._

_He had just rubbed her butt with his hand._

_Normally a person probably would not care very much if something insignificant like touching someone's behind accidentally, happened to them, considering performing that action would happen all the time in a clustered hallway. Orihime and Ichigo begged to differ._

_Ichigo was immensely proud of himself for making it through the gap without touching her at all, but his feeling of accomplishment had quickly faded when he realized what he had done._

_When the rigid beauty felt his fingers swipe across her derriere in a fluid action, her eyes grew wide as she caught her breath.` He just touched my butt … He … touched …,' she could not even finish her thought, for it was too embarrassing._

_Both teens' faces flushed._

_This wasn't just any person, or rather boy, who just happened to run his fingers along her soft bottom. This was Kurosaki Ichigo: the boy she had had a crush on for the past few weeks. That made all the difference._

_Ichigo made the executive decision that it was best to act as if nothing had ever happened and resumed his stroll._

_When he appeared in Orihime's line of vision once again, her eyes followed him. She noticed his cheeks were blemished with a light shade of red. He was just as mortified as she was. `No. I must be seeing things. There's no way he was blushing. He probably didn't notice … and even if he did, why would it matter to him?' she asked herself._

_She looked at him once again._

_It looked as if it had boggled him as much as it had her._

_She had persisted with watching him at his locker out of the corners of her eyes. As soon as he had unlocked the padlock, he hid his head behind the door, blocking her view of his face._

Orihime ducked behind an open classroom door and peered through its window. Her eyes scanned the hallway through the clear glass in front of her. She was doing all that she could to avoid the tall tangerine ever since the "incident". She believed he was steering clear of her as well.

Noting that the coast was clear, she made her way into her designated opening class. She was deeply pleased that she had not seen him. If she had seen him, she would not have known what to do, except blush and swiftly fall in love with the gorgeous floor.

Orihime placed the items she was holding on her desk and skipped over to Tatsuki, Aiko, and Yumi.

Tatsuki was deathly glaring at Chizuru who had been lustfully staring at Orihime from the moment she had entered the loudly obnoxious room.

Chizuru caught Tatsuki's glare and glowered in return, but refrained from ogling at the largely busty girl because of Tatsuki's fierce look. This took place almost every single morning.

Marching off to her desk, Tatsuki set her belongings down and sat in her chair. Chizuru had been trying to grope Orihime's ample bosom a little too much that week and she managed to trigger her temper once again. Feeling the necessity to settle down, she quietly sat in her seat, her head resting on her hand.

Although Orihime attempted to put on a façade of sheer delight, Aiko could distinguish she was slightly more jittery than usual, as if the bright girl was anxious about something, even though she had really openly expressed her relief to step foot into the classroom.

"What's wrong, Orihime-chan?" Aiko asked.

She waved her hands spastically in front of her small frame. "N-nothing, Aiko-chan," she hastily denied. "Nothing is wrong." Her commonly large smile finally stretched its way across Orihime's beautiful countenance.

"Are you sure?" Yumi asked beside her. She had a troubled expression on her face, expressing her concern for the girl. Yumi was more of a quiet and tender girl. She was always worried for those who started their day off on the wrong side of the bed.

Aiko seemed to believe the bright girl's act and brushed it off, while Yumi, still concerned, just accepted her defiance.

Of course, Tatsuki knew her jubilant best friend and her sneaky ways. She always contradicted her mood with a smile that shone as vividly as the sun. Orihime was clearly flustered.

Too drained to even greet her best friend, due to the competition she had participated in the previous night, she beckoned Orihime over to her while jerking her head.

Orihime bounced over to her exhausted best friend, a smile plastered to her visage.

"Hey," the tomboy greeted. "Stop trying to look all bright and happy. You know you can't lie to me. Something's up."

Orihime's smile faltered. Although she was very good at lying, sometimes when she would try to mask her anxiety with cheerfulness, Tatsuki would notice immediately.

Puffing out her cheeks and blowing out a long breath, the buxom young lady gave in and settled on informing Tatsuki about the "incident" which had recently occurred. She dryly told her what happened and instead of receiving helpful words of advice, or even solace, from her loving best friend, the sound of booming laughter arrived at her ears.

She looked down at her friend with utter confusion written across her elegant features. It seemed to be that the source of laughter was emanating from Tatsuki, laughs racking through her body as tears formed in her eyes.

The auburn haired teen had absolutely no idea what her friend was laughing at. `Why is she laughing?' she thought, a pout forming on her lips. She thought the predicament she was in was everything but funny. It was not something to laugh at. She was embarrassed and humiliated. She did not even feel comfortable enough to walk through the hallways, due to her fear of seeing the scowling orange headed teen.

Catching Orihime's perplexed expression, Tatsuki willed her laughter to slowly subside. Her laughter gradually went from boisterous bellows reducing to minimal chuckles. She wiped the salty tears from her eyes, a large grin on her face, and looked up at the ever so innocent Inoue Orihime standing before her.

"Um … Tatsuki … what's so funny?" she asked, chewing on her bottom lip apprehensively.

"Don't worry. I'm not necessarily laughing at you. I'm just getting a kick out of the situation itself. I know this might sound weird, but it's actually kind of cute."

"C-cute?" the innocent girl asked, her grey orbs widening.

"Yeah, I guess. Did you ever consider that maybe you are not the only one who might be immensely embarrassed, Orihime?"

Giving it some thought, she guiltily answered, "No, but do you think he would actually be embarrassed? He didn't seem to care at all. I don't even think he noticed."

"Ha, that's what you think. I don't know the kid, but from the way he looked at you when he bumped into your back last week, he seemed a little more than just interested."

The timid girl immediately flushed and looked away. "I-I don't know, Tatsuki. I think he is avoiding me, so maybe you're right. I hadn't thought he noticed."

"Yeah, we-," Tatsuki's sentence hung in midair, as their instructor walked into the room.

"Quiet down and take your seats!" Ochi-sensei bellowed.

Instantaneously all the youthful students scrambled to their seats and provided their undivided attention to the teacher only.

She eyed the students before commencing her announcement. "I have been informed by your physical education teacher that you will be having physical education class with me."

Moans and groans rumbled through the small audience in the classroom, interrupting the already unpleased sensei.

"Before you start protesting against this sudden alteration, know that you are basically going to be doing absolutely nothing during the class period. The juniors' physical education teacher has requested you guys come and watch the juniors perform their primitive culture dances in the auditorium. They aren't experienced dancers and this project is part of their grades, so don't laugh when you watch them. Try to give your upperclassmen as much support as possible since you are going to be members of their audience. Oh, and their teacher has not notified them that you will be attending, so what I just said must be applied immensely, all right?"

When Ochi-sensei's declaration finally reached Orihime's ears, her heart felt as if it were pulsing in her esophagus. She felt as if her eyeballs were about to escape their sockets and dangle from her face. She couldn't even move from her current position because every ligament and muscle in her body froze.

This would mean she would have to watch her scowling crush execute a dance, which originated from another country, in front of her grey irises.

He did not even know she was going to be there either. This fact did not make her feel any better. This truth allowed her to reflect on what Tatsuki had previously addressed to her. `He is probably going to be humiliated the minute I step foot in the auditorium,' she thought franticly. `I can't allow him to see me.'

Tatsuki glanced over at her usually jubilant friend, to find her frozen in her seat. She caught the glint of determination in her eyes though, as if she sought to accomplish something. What that something could be was beyond her. She smiled and slightly shook her head. She could not wait for this small event to commence, but she was sure Orihime could.

----

The taste of metallic liquid stroked her taste buds. Orihime continued to chew on her bottom lip, even though she was cutting and cracking it in the process. This slight action was a nervous habit of hers.

The small amount of pain escaping the petite wounds on her plump lips was absolutely nothing compared to the anguish in her torso. The butterflies fluttering and bouncing off the walls of her stomach were literally beginning to physically hurt her. She wrapped her slender arms around her narrow waist in an attempt to calm the flurrying creatures that inhabited her body.

She did not even bother to act as if she was fine and dandy, which ended up worrying the three friends walking beside her. Tatsuki, Aiko, and Yumi all exchanged glances wondering what was possibly wrong with the girl.

Tatsuki knew all too well. They were leisurely making their way towards the auditorium to view the juniors' performances. She grinned. "She will be fine," she whispered to the others.

The diminutive group of girls approached the doors of the auditorium. With furrowed brows, Orihime decided she would suck it up and not allow anxiety to get the best of her. She pushed her chest out and huffed with an unwavering resolve glinting in her irises.

----

"Aren't you excited to do the Irish Jig, Ichigo?" a bouncing Keigo asked, sitting right next to the tangerine in the auditorium. Their classmates were currently chit chatting away as they waited for the teacher to present further instructions.

Ichigo grunted. "Like hell I am. Who wants to perform the Irish Jig in front of their classmates? This is the most ridiculous "project" the teacher has assigned."

"Well, she does have a background in dance, so that's why we're doing this," he informed.

"I don't have a background in dance, do I? Whatever. I don't really care and I am not excited."

Keigo gasped. "B-but-," he was interrupted as a fist made allies with his jaw.

He soothingly massaged his jaw and allowed the ever so dramatic tears to escape his eyes and fall to the floor as he glared at Ichigo.

Ichigo stood up facing the crying Keigo on the floor and was about to snap at the crybaby, who annoyed him immensely, with a very smart comment, but was briskly disrupted when the auditorium doors eerily creaked open. The class should not have been expecting any more guests.

All the juniors' curious heads turned in their seats to view who was about to enter the premises. The feet of Freshmen Class 108 leisurely padded across the floor as all the juniors gave them cautious stares.

Some of the freshmen started to shrink into themselves, especially when they saw Ichigo, considering he looked as if he was about to pound the boy underneath him on the floor, but others, such as Tatsuki and Aiko, didn't give the junior class a fleeting look.

That was when the sudden flash of auburn swam slightly hidden in the crowd of freshmen.

Orihime was determined not to peek at the class and skim to find Ichigo, but her eyes apparently had a mind of their own. Even through the small crowd of her class, she could see him perfectly and she had made the mistake of looking at him. The butterflies she has successfully willed to stop moving in her stomach had returned in the blink of an eye.

Ashen orbs met light brown ones. Everything stopped … again. Orihime blushed and rapidly continued to walk to a seat near Tatsuki.

Ichigo froze in his spot. He was captivated by her eyes even from a great distance. He immediately flushed and nervously took his seat once again.

"Ichigo, are you okay? You don't look rather amazing," his usually quiet friend Sado asked.

"Thanks," he replied gruffly. "I'm just a little nervous. That's all."

Ichigo's words were not believed by the colossal Mexican. "But you will be performing a dance in front of people you've known for three years. You should feel comfortable. It'll be fun."

The tangerine laughed tensely, kneading the back of his neck. "Well, I am going to be dancing the Irish Jig; that's kind of embarrassing."

Sado eyed him warily, but decided to let the small issue pass. He did not want to push Ichigo's obvious uneasiness any further. That was unnecessary.

Ichigo had not told any of his friends about the auburn haired beauty who toyed with his emotions unintentionally. He did not want to because firstly, she was an underclassman and secondly, because he just could not admit to anyone that this girl was ever so slowly slipping her way through the barrier he worked so hard to build for so long. After displaying such a brawny image to his peers and others ever since he was a young boy, he was not willing to confess that someone (and this someone merely being a beautiful girl that looked older than her actual age) had begun the process of tearing at his powerful and defensive wall. If anyone would hear about his situation, he would definitely be in for it, especially from his little midget of a best friend, Rukia.

This girl wasn't a big deal. These were the few words the orange haired junior continued to repeat in his head as her image flickered across his mind. He could try to convince himself that this was true, but his actions defied this concept.

----

A few groups of students had finished performing their dances. They had executed the Indian dance, Bharata Natyam, the Israeli dance, The Hora, and two groups had performed the Spanish dances, the Flamenco and the Fandango.

Orihime had been enjoying the unprofessional show vastly. She had found their dancing cute and funny. Most of the junior students were not trained dancers, so they were not all that graceful, but classmates were laughing and cheering them on. Even some of the freshmen students found themselves chanting.

Although the copper headed girl was calm on the outside, she was beginning to become nervous and was playfully curious as to what she was about to see, as she watched Ichigo and his group walk up the stairs and on to the small sized stage.

After having observing all the dances and at how stupid his peers looked trying to perform them, Ichigo had actually chuckled at how unintelligent his classmates appeared. Because of his amusement, he had forgotten about the auburn haired girl sitting in the second to last row of the petite auditorium.

Orihime tried with all the willpower one could grasp, to not blush profusely at Ichigo dancing the Irish Jig. She tried even harder not to laugh. Ishida, Sado, Keigo, Mizuiro, and Ichigo had put a vast amount of effort into the dance. They wore dark green T-shirts that spelled out "I `heart' Ire land [:" if they stood in the correct order and Keigo had decided to make the wise decision of using Lucky Charms as a prop. They had used their props wisely and most likely obtained the most laughs out of their entire class.

Orihime couldn't help but smile at how adorable Ichigo looked when he scowled. It seemed that now he was chiefly scowling because of concentration. He was working hard at the Irish Jig. She giggled softly.

In the middle of performing, Ichigo's concentration was abruptly broken when he decided to involuntarily look out into the audience. As if fate had it, his eyes immediately feel upon large grey ones. He could see, even from where he was on stage, that she was giggling merrily. He had to admit that she looked utterly adorable when she laughing giddily while her cheeks were tinted slightly pink.

`Whoa! Since when do you think a girl is adorable all of a sudden?' he shouted at himself. His mind had decided to tread a path of its own and soon the Irish Jig he should have been performing was long forgotten and he was plummeting towards the ground, off the stage. `Oh, shit.'

All he felt was the agonizing sting in his ankle. He had managed to land right on his beloved ankle in the process of his face fighting a war with the floor. He grunted and rolled onto his back to see almost the entire class peering down on him.

"Are you okay?" the teacher asked.

All that came in response was a muffled scream through gritted teeth, as the throbbing in his ankle continued.

Everyone knew something was wrong.

The scowl on his brow was so deep, those around him were fearful that he would get wrinkles at that moment. He tried to sit up, but the powerful ache in his right ankle was starting to spread through his leg and eventually he was hyperaware of every sensation his body was feeling. His eyes were screwed shut as he breathed heavily and shakily through his nose.

Some kids were requested to go retrieve help, while the teachers shooed the students around Ichigo away.

Unfortunately, none of the teachers knew what to do since they had never received an injury like this.

Ichigo knew his ankle wasn't broken, but it definitely was sprained. It was starting look like an awkward red "kankle".

Orihime did not know what was going on, but one moment Ichigo was on stage and the next he was hurtling toward the auditorium's floor. The freshmen in the back were incapable of viewing what was going on because of the crowd of students surrounding Ichigo, but once the students were shunned away, Orihime was able to make out a very contorted face of pain and it belonged to her crush.

Orihime's heart started thudding against her ribcage. This was so horrible. She was giggling mad just a few moments ago and now she was viewing the tangerine's face twisted in pain because he had injured himself.

"He sprained his ankle. Damn it," Orihime heard Ochi-sensei mutter lowly. "Help will come soon. Hang in there, kid."

Orihime had known injuries a little too well and mostly when she was a young girl. She had sprained her wrists and ankles and had broken many bones including her legs, arms, and ribs. A simple sprain was something she most definitely knew how to treat and handle.

"Ori-," Tatsuki called as her bright best friend brazenly, but hesitantly walked to where the commotion had commenced.

This happened to Ichigo and it was all her fault. If he had not seen her while he was dancing on the stage, he would not be on the floor clutching his leg in pain. Guilt gripped Orihime's heart as she realized that if she simply had not been in the room, none of this would have happened.

She arrived at the scene. Ichigo was obviously too preoccupied with the pain coursing through his right ankle and leg to even take notice that she was right beside him. She took advantage of this and kneeled beside him. "Let go of your leg," she commanded firmly, but ever so gently.

Ichigo popped one eye open and looked at the tender girl as she patiently waited for him to let go of his leg and allow her to examine it.

He cautiously and very slowly allowed her to inspect the swelling ankle that was his own, unfortunately.

Ochi-sensei trusted Orihime to take care of this. She believed her to be an immensely bright girl.

Even if he was in a colossal amount of pain, he could not control the soft blush that crept up his cheeks as her slender and soft fingers lightly touched his injury.

He winced when she had put a little too much pressure on it unintentionally.

"I'm so sorry," she exclaimed frantically.

"It's okay," he muttered, the words coming out horsy, due to the fact that he was trying to hold back any yells of pain in front of her.

She lightly smiled. "Ochi-sensei, do we have any compression wraps in the first aid kit? And we need ice immediately."

"Yes. I'll go get both right now."

Orihime nervously bit her lip. She had to treat his ankle instantly or else the injury could last for weeks. To decrease the swelling, she not only needed ice, but she also had to elevate his leg. She looked around, finding nothing to put his foot on.

Ichigo carefully watched her every move. He noticed a nervous habit of hers was chewing on her bottom lip. That was why it was so chapped. He found himself wanting to tell her not do that anymore, but wondered why he would bother caring for her health when his was slightly more important at the moment.

He observed how she frantically searched around the area for something, but could not find whatever she had been looking for. Her eyes grew disappointed, but immediately shone like the sun when she had created a new idea in her head.

She stripped herself of her uniform sweater and rolled it into a ball, attempting to award it some sort of height.

The physical education teacher could see what Orihime was doing and offered her, her sweater as well.

Orihime gratefully took it and added it to her rolled up sweater.

Her cheeks started to obtain a rosy color, once again, as she politely asked him to try to raise his ankle onto the sweaters with her assistance.

He obeyed her command.

Ochi-sensei came jogging in and handed Orihime the ice and compression wrap.

Orihime lightly placed the ice on Ichigo's ankle which caused him to wince, gritting his teeth.

The girl looked up at him with concerned eyes. They were absolutely beautiful, big eyes, in his opinion. He couldn't seem to tear his from hers. He swallowed the thick lump in his throat as she deliberately averted her gaze and continued tending to his ankle.

After the swelling had gone down a bit, she commenced with wrapping his ankle with the compression wrap.

The pain had reduced to both their relief, so her wrapping his ankle was not the most horrible thing.

He found himself entranced by her. Her cheeks were still tinted with a light red color; she seemed embarrassed enough to want to attempt to hide her face with her gorgeously silky hair. He was engrossed with how she combed it behind her ear every time the shadows her tresses casted on her countenance, seemed to obscure her view of his ankle. His scowl melted off his face when he had heard her soothingly soft voice the few times she had spoken. He noticed her maternal nature and how gentle and caring she acted. She reminded him of …

"Ok! We're done here!" she exclaimed happily, as she clasped her hands in front of her chest and stared at her accomplishment: being Ichigo's wrapped up ankle.

He could not help but smile at the jubilant girl's exclamation. It was a rather amusing sight.

She immediately flushed realizing her sudden outburst and apologized.

"It's okay. Don't worry about it."

The Phys Ed. teacher interrupted the conversation. "Kurosaki, your two friends over here are going to give you a lift to the nurse," she jerked her head toward Sado and Ishida. "She's going to prescribe to you some medication, so the pain will subside."

Even though Sado was most likely the only one needed to aid Ichigo in his walk to the nurse, the teacher insisted Ishida help him out, much to the spectacled boy's distaste.

"You can go to. You helped, so you can explain to the nurse what you did to his ankle," Ochi-sensei spoke to Orihime.

The helpful young lady nodded obediently and followed.

----

The nurse was in another small building next to the school. It was right beside the courtyard meaning the walk was going to be a long one, considering a certain tangerine only had the ability to walk on one leg.

It was silent at first until Sado started engaging in a conversation with Orihime about the newest stuffed animal that had been added to one of the collections they both loved.

Orihime was intrigued that Sado, being the colossal, yet gentle person that he was, loved cute things.

"What's your name?" the boy with the glasses asked. It seemed as if he had been trying to push them back, but unluckily could not since he had Ichigo's arm slung across his shoulder and was holding onto it.

"M-me?" she asked.

With his nod of confirmation, she continued by answering, "Inoue Orihime."

Inoue Orihime … Inoue Orihime.

Ichigo was glad Ishida asked the question because he had been longing to inquire that himself. He had been too shy to do so, though.

He thought it was a nice name. Hopefully he would be able to say a lot in the near future.

"Hello, Inoue-san. I am Ishida Uryu. You did a great job fixing up this idiot next to me."

Orihime's eyes widened at the use of the word "idiot" and who it was directed to.

"Shut up," Ichigo growled to the four eyed young lad who was supporting his weight. It was the first thing Ichigo had said since they had left the auditorium.

"Umm … thank you. It was really no problem at all," she quietly said.

Ichigo was about to respond when they arrived at the nurse's office. The tangerine observed it with distaste evident on his features. Ichigo hated this place.

----

After explaining the situation and the entire procedure Orihime had performed on Ichigo to the nurse, the lady prescribed a medication, writing it on a slip of paper and handed it to Orihime.

Orihime walked over to the scowling boy sitting on one of the chairs a few yards from the nurse's desk. She nervously passed him the slip of paper and Ichigo retrieved it, their fingers brushing against the others in the process.

A sensation crept its path up both their spines causing them both to unnoticeably shudder. They both blushed lightly and averted their gazes. The floor seemed ever so lovely at the moment.

He hadn't even been able to muster enough valor to utter a simple "thank you". He forced himself to, though.

"Thanks for everything," he nervously muttered, a grateful small smile stretching his lips.

She was taken aback by his smile, but she just brightly smiled in return. "You're welcome," she beamed.

He nodded, the corners of his mouth timidly pulling upwards once again.

He looked very endearing when he wasn't scowling.

With that, she gracefully swept across the room and exited out the door.

----

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* * *

Ok, well, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. If you did/not, let me know. This is what reviews are for.

Feedback is ever so important to me, so for those who just read and alert, I'd like to kindly ask for you to review. Feedback and opinions are SO significant to me ^^.

Please read and review!

Have a good one. [:

~Yono~


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